Everyone has reported to camp and Spring Training is officially underway for your Minnesota Twins! With rosters (mostly) set across the division, let’s evaluate where the Twins stand in the hierarchy of MLB’s best division.

Okay, “best division” might be a long shot, but the AL Central was the only division in baseball to have five teams finish above .500 and one of two (with the NL East) to have three teams make the playoffs.

The White Sox are still one of the worst teams in the history of professional baseball, so they won’t factor into the rest of this conversation, but the rest of the division is on the rise.

The Twins were among the best teams in baseball for two thirds of the season before their historic collapse left them outside of the playoff picture.

Despite their second late-season collapse in two years, they brought back manager Rocco Baldelli while replacing most of the hitting staff, with the offense the main culprit for the collapse.

The Twins lost Max Kepler and Carlos Santana while bringing in a slew of mid-level veterans to try to replicate their production, along with banking on improvements from young hitters like Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, and Royce Lewis.

The pitching staff, as always the last few years, looks stellar under Derek Falvey’s guidance.

The Guardians, meanwhile, may be on the downswing for the first time in a while. Superstar Jose Ramirez is 32 and still stellar, but started showing some small signs of decline.

They also traded away Platinum Glove winner Andres Gimenez and 2024 All-Star Josh Naylor, largely to get out of their contracts.

They are replaced by the aforementioned Santana, in his third stint in Cleveland, and rookie second baseman Juan Brito.

They’ll also be missing 2024 breakout utility man David Fry for most of the season, along with pitchers Shane Bieber, John Means, Trevor Stephan, and Sam Hentges, all recovering from major surgeries.

Then we get to the surprise teams. Let’s start in Detroit.

The Tigers relied on Tarik Skubal and the power of friendship for a late-season playoff run, capitalizing on the Twins’ collapse. Skubal, the 2024 AL Cy Young winner, might be the best pitcher in baseball but Detroit has major concerns about retaining him long term.

The Tigers also brought back Jack Flaherty to their staff after trading him to the Dodgers at the trade deadline, while getting Reese Olson back from injury and a full season from top prospect Jackson Jobe.

Offensively, the Tigers brought in Gleyber Torres from the Yankees who rounds out the infield with the young trio of Colt Keith, Jace Jung, and Trey Sweeney.

After a couple of disappointing seasons, top FA acquisition Javy Baez and former number one pick Spencer Torkelson are out of Detroit’s long term plans.

The Kansas City Royals, meanwhile, uncharacteristically have spent a lot in free agency the past two seasons to force themselves into contention. They supplemented the signings of Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, and Hunter Renfroe in 2024 with SP Michael Lorenzen and closer Carlos Estevez this year.

They also made the rare one-for-one Major League trade, sending SP Brady Singer to Cincinnati for 2B/DH Jonathan India.

The key for the Royals this year will be getting production out of their non-Bobby Witt Jr. hitters, which India should provide. Although the trade now leaves them relying a trio of mid-30s starting pitchers without the high minors prospects to back them up.

Despite the Twins’ collapse, I would still mark them as the favorite to win the AL Central in 2025.

While the Twins don’t have MVP and Cy Young candidates like Jose Ramirez, Tarik Skubal, and Bobby Witt Jr., the Twins are just better at nearly every position overall than then rest of the division.

On top of that, Minnesota’s farm system is littered with older prospects ready to contribute in the event of injury or underperformance (see: Emmanuel Rodriguez, Luke Keaschall, Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Matt Canterino, Marco Raya, Travis Adams, Andrew Morris, Cory Lewis, Connor Prielipp).

Give me the Twins over the field, but cast your vote and be heard! Where will the Twins finish in the AL Central in 2025?